Adjustable corn-husker



(No Model.)

W. F. LILLIE.

ADJUSTABLE 001m HUSKER. No. 604,476. Patented May 24,1898.

Wifgzssgs NITED STATES PATENT FFICE,

. ADJUSTABLE CORN-HUSKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 604,476, dated. May 24:, 1898.

Application filed September 15,1897. Serial No. 651,768. (No model.)

.MTO all whom it, may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM FRANKLIN LILLIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beatrice, in the county of Gage and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Adjustable Corn-Husker, of which the follow ing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvementsin corn-huskers of that class which are designed to be worn by the hand of the operator in pulling off the husk from the ear of corn; and it is designedmore particularly as an improvement upon the construction shown in my prior United States Letters Patent, No. 505,711, dated September 26, 1893.

The primary object of the present improvement is to provide an improved implement which may be adjusted perfectly to the thumb and palm of the user and at the same time afford protection to the thumb, palm, and wrist and enable the parts to be used with great freedom.

A further object of the invention is to im prove the implement in minor details with a view to making it easy of application to and removal from the thumb and palm of the hand, to simplify its construction, and to cheapen its manufacture by enabling me to use a canvas fabric in lieu of the expensive leather commonly employed in the manufacture of implements of this class.

With these ends in view my invention consists in the combination, with a pliable band adapted to pass around the palm and wrist, of a thumb and palm plate carrying theusual husking-hook and constructed in sections to form a flexible metallic shackle adapted to pass around the thumb of the users hand; and the invention further consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and adaptation of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cornhusking implement constructed in accord ance with my invention and shown applied to a hand. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the implement. Fig. 3 is a perspective View representing the metallic parts of the husking implement detached from the pliable palm and wrist band and showing the metallic parts separated one from the other.

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawlngs.

Myimproved implement for husking corn has'four metallic elements to afford means for protecting the palm, wrist, and thumb of the hand, and three of these elements are operativelyconnected together to provide a flexible shackle adapted to pass around the thumb'and to fit to the palm at the base of the thumb. These metallic elements are used in connection with a pliable wrist and palm band or strip 1, and in the preferred embodiment of my invention I avail myself of apliable strip of fabric, preferably canvas, because it is cheaper than the leather ordinarily used in the manufacture of implements of this class, although it will be understood that I may also use leather in making my implement if such material is found desirable in making certain styles or classes of implements.

The pliable palm and wrist band 1 consists of quite a wide strip provided at one end with the usual buckles 2, and the band or strip is cut away or bifurcated to provide the independent straps, whereby the band may be passed around the hand-wrist to enable its buckles and straps to be used for fastening it in place on the hand.

The metallic elements of the implement are designated by the numerals 4c, 5, 6, and 7. The element 7 is a palm-plate to fit the palm at the middle of the back portion and adjacent to the wrist. This palm-plate 7 is curved into segmental form, and near its ends this plate is slotted in a peculiar way to provide the openings 8 on opposite sides of the bars 9 9. These bars 9 9 lie out of the plane of the plate 7, and the straps 3 can thus be passed through the slots and around the bars in order to attach the plate 7 to the wristband. The other metallic elements, 4, 5, and 6 of the implement are of peculiar form to afford protection to the thumb, and they are loosely coupled together to provide the flexible shackle, which encircles the thumb to protecti-he same, but which enable the thumb to be used with great freedom. The main element 4 is the plate to be applied to the base of the thumb. This plate 4 is curved or shaped to make it conform to the contour of the hand at the base of the thumb and to the wrist, and said plate 4 carries at its front edge the hook 10, which is curved or bent back upon the plate 4 to overhang the same. This main plate is struck up from a single piece of metal in the form required and to provide a plurality of arms 11, 12, and 13. One of these arms extends in a generallycurved direction from one edge of the plate, another arm extends from the rear end of the plate, and the third is a short arm extending from the front edge of the plate and on the opposite side of the hook 10 from the firstnamed curved arm. The metallic plate 5 of the implement is providedat one end with a longitudinal slot 14 and at its other end with openings 15, separated by a bar 16, said plate 5 being oitset at an intermediate point of its length, as at 1'7. This plate 5 of the implement forms one member of the flexible shackle, and it is loosely attached to the arm 11 of the main plate 4 by adjusting its slotted end 14 over the end of the arm 11 and passing a rivet or pivotal pin 18 through the slot 14 and a suitable opening in the arm 11. The other plate 6 of the implement forms the other member of the flexible shackle, and it consists of a curved plate or strip, which is attached pivotally, as at 19, to the short arm or lug 13 of the main plate 4. This plate 6 of the implement is provided at the end opposite to its pivotal connection 19 with the plate 4 with the openings or slots 20, as indicated by Fig. 2, said openings being separated by a bar similar to the slots 15 in the plate 5. The other arm 12 of the main plate 4 is provided at its free end with the openings or slots 22, separated by the bar 24.

One of the straps of the pliable wristband is passed through the slots 22 and over the cross-bar 24 of the arm 12 of the main plate 4. The other strap passes beneath the curved plate 6 and through the slots 20 and over the cross-bar 21 thereof, and it also passes through the slots 15 and over the cross-bar 16 of the other plate 5 of the shackle.

From this description it will be observed that the straps pass through the slots in the plates of the implement in a manner to hold all the metallic plates in operative relation to each other. The plates 5 and 6 of the shackle are connected loosely or pivotally to the main plate 4, and the free ends of the loose members 5 6 are joined by the pliable strap, whereby the parts of the shackle are connected together, so as to permit them to move or play in order to provide for great freedom of motion to the thumb of the hand in the operation of husking the corn.

To use my improvement, the thumb is passed through the metallic flexible shackle, and the band or strip 1 is passed around the wrist and fastened in place by adjusting the straps in the buckles. The metallic plates or elements afford protection to and strengthen the wrist, the thumb, and the palm of the hand; but in using the implement these parts do not interfere with the freedom of motion of the hand. The husking-hook may be engaged with the husk of the ear of corn in order to pull off the husk to good advantage.

In my improved implement the metallic elements thereof are not riveted or attached solidly to the pliable Wristband, thus saving the expense of rivets and the labor of fastening the parts by the rivets. The pliable wristband can be removed when desired and replaced by another wristband by the user of the implement.

Various changes in the form and proportion of parts may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention.

In order to confine the strap to the main plate 4 at the point where it passes or fits beneath the short arm or lug 13 of the same, I provide the loop 25, which is fitted loosely around said short arm or lug 13 and one of the straps of the wristband. This construction serves to confine one of the straps in proper position beneath the curved member or plate 6, and thus a layer of leather or canvas is interposed between the thumb and the plate or member 6 when the device is worn in order to protect the thumb from being chafed by the implement.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a wristband having two straps and means for connecting them to the band, a hook carrying plate secured to one strap of said band and formed with an arm, a plate flexibly secured to this arm, and another curved plate flexibly secured to the hook-carrying plate, the free ends of both the attached plates being connected to the other strap of the wristband, substantially as described.

2. A corn-husking implement comprising a wristband having two straps and means for connecting them to the wristband, a hookcarrying plate attached to one strap, a plate slidably and pivotally attached to said hookcarrying plate, and another curved plate pivotally attached to said hook-carrying plate; the free ends of both attached plates being connected to the other strap and forming therewith a flexible thumb-shackle, substantially as described.

3. A corn-husking implement comprising a wristband having two straps and means for attaching the same to said band, a plate, 7, attached to both straps, a hook-carrying plate attached at one end to one strap and with its hook-formed end free from said straps, a plate flexibly attached to the hook-carrying plate on one side of the hook thereof, and another curved plate flexibly attached to the hook-carrying plate on the opposite side of wristband having two straps, a palm-plate attached thereto, a hook-carrying plate, shackleplates pivoted to the hook-carrying plate and connected at their free ends by one of the straps of the wristband, and a loop embracing one of the straps and arm of the hookcarrying plate, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM FRANKLIN LILLIE. Witnesses:

GEORGE W. KERR, W. H. MosELEY. 

